Research & reports

Zulfadhli Nasution · · Indonesia (Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor)

This study investigated the relationship between urban farming communities and food sovereignty in Jakarta, Bandung, and Bogor, Indonesia. The findings suggest that the discourse of food sovereignty has not been exposed to urban farming communities. This is attributed to urban farming having different historical roots and social and political characteristics compared to the food sovereignty movement.

Zulfadhli Nasution · · Indonesia (Jakarta)

A case study in Jakarta, Bandung, and Bogor, Indonesia, examined the engagement between urban farming communities and food sovereignty. Findings indicate that the food sovereignty discourse has not significantly exposed urban farming communities due to differing historical backgrounds and social/political views between urban farming and rural peasantry-based movements. The study suggests prerequisites for strengthening food sovereignty among urban food advocates, including building consumer consciousness and urban-rural solidarity.

Green Hope, River Edge, New Jersey 07661, USA., Hye Jin Keum · Journal of people, plants, and environment · United States

The philosophical background and historical development of the school garden movement in the USA were examined. The movement demonstrated a process of formation, decline, and revival. It began to diminish after World War I and was pushed to extinction by technological advancements in the 1950s, before resurging from the 1990s to address childhood obesity, nature-deficit, and improve academic achievements.

Jonathan Crush · · Global

This article argues that cities of the Global South are experiencing a deepening crisis of food inaccessibility, marked by growing food poverty, hunger and malnutrition, lack of dietary diversity, child wasting and stunting, increased vulnerability to infectious and chronic disease, and a growing obesity epidemic. It states that this urban crisis remains largely invisible to the policy and research communities concerned with global food security, noting that there was more research and policy debate on urban food insecurity in the 1990s, when the Global South was less urbanized than today, and that concern with urban food security has since been displaced by the new international food security agenda and its pervasive anti-urban bias. It observes that the only aspect of urban food security currently commanding significant attention is urban agriculture, which it describes as widely, but improbably, seen as the key to achieving food security in cities of the Global South.

Mariana Iftisan · · Indonesia (Bandung)

This study investigated community perceptions and participation in an urban farming program in RW 04 Tamansari, Bandung, Indonesia. Findings indicated that community perception of the urban farming program was good, with residents understanding its types and benefits. However, community participation in the program was not maximal, as not all residents of RW 04 were involved.

Larissa Vásquez-Moreno, Ana Córdova y Vázquez · International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development · Mexico (San Cristobal de Las Casas)

This study developed a conceptual framework to assess urban agriculture's (UA) potential contributions to urban sustainability (US). The framework was applied to a qualitative analysis of UA practices in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico. The study found a rich practice of UA in the city and that the framework was valuable for evidencing data and stimulating analysis. However, the study also discusses limitations of UA and further refinements needed for the framework to guide actions towards increasing UA's impact on urban sustainability.

Evan Weissman · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (New York City)

This essay refutes the claims by Hallsworth and Wong (2013) that the benefits of urban food gardening are exaggerated and that it cannot deliver fresher or lower-cost foods. It states that Hallsworth and Wong's assumptions are incorrect and that urban gardening plays a significant role as public space, an economic development strategy, and a community-organizing tool, contributing to household food security. For example, a 0.2-hectare urban farm project in Brooklyn, New York, "East New York Farms!", produces over USD20,000 of fresh produce annually, with over 70% of transactions made through SNAP, reaching high-need community members.

Maijun, Sasmito Jati Utama · Aplikasi Administrasi Media Analisa Masalah Administrasi · Indonesia (Surabaya)

This qualitative descriptive study analyzed the effectiveness of an urban farming catfish aquaculture program in Medokan Ayu Village, Rungkut District, Surabaya City. The program was concluded to be less effective overall, showing no impact on the welfare of the poor. Low understanding among participants led to cultivation failures, and the program did not achieve its goals of poverty reduction or increased income.

Alan Hallsworth, Alfred Wong · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global

A short commentary on urban gardening. It states that although urban gardening is highly popular among civic politicians and some vocal advocates, there is no basis to expect this food-supply concept could ever deliver fresher or lower-cost food to most people living within the structure of a modern urbanized society.

Les Levidow, Katerina Psarikidou · · United Kingdom

In Manchester, England, environmental and health issues have been folded into a wider agro-food strategy aimed at making the city "more sustainable." With support from state bodies and charities, several initiatives have expanded access to fresh, healthy food, particularly in "food deserts," mobilizing resources, skills, and voluntary labor through "community engagement" to create "community spaces" for social inclusion. Manchester's agro-food networks shorten supply chains by linking peri-urban agriculture more directly with urban consumers and by promoting urban agriculture grounded in local resource mobilization and personal trust, offering an alternative to conventional agro-food chains; food relocalisation is described as helping overcome socio-economic inequalities and health problems, with Manchester initiatives cooperating to build environmentally sustainable, socially just, healthy communities and reconstructing local identities and social commitments, within a national policy context that advocates food relocalisation but provides little actual support. Despite that activity, the larger food system in Manchester remains dominated by conventional agro-food chains, and community food initiatives play only a marginal role, leading practitioners to discuss how to overcome these limitations; from 2010 onward, the UK government's austerity regime is described as undermining state support further, making community engagement even more important for mobilizing resources.

Eric L. Hazzard, Elizabeth Moreno, Deborah Lane Beall, Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr · Public Health Nutrition · United States (California)

A mid-term evaluation was conducted on 3103 California public schools (80.6% of applicants) to assess the effectiveness of the California Instructional School Garden Program (CISGP). Many schools reported not achieving their predicted goals related to the CISGP grant, with only 39.4% of schools accomplishing all their garden-related goals. Additionally, 37.8% of schools reported that their school gardens were negatively affected by the California budget deficit, suggesting that the discrepancy between predicted and actual grant utilization may be due to a combination of budget shortfall and insufficient grant award amounts.

Eric L. Hazzard, Elizabeth Moreno, Deborah Lane Beall, Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr · The FASEB Journal · United States (California)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the California Instructional School Garden Program (CISGP) grants by surveying 749 grantee schools. It found that the development, sustained use, or expansion of gardens was less than expected (p=.01), and fewer schools than expected reported using gardens for instruction (p<.001) or to teach academic subjects (p<.003). Less than 40% of schools reported accomplishing all their garden goals with the funds.

Charles Rowley · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

This paper compared the successes and failures of two urban creek restoration programs in California: Temescal Creek (initiated nearly 30 years ago) and White Oak Creek (completed about four years ago). Based on the author's success criteria, the more recent White Oak Creek program achieved significant success, while the earlier Temescal Creek restoration did not reach generally acceptable success levels. This difference is attributed to changes in management and scientific practice over 30 years, including substantial changes in the legal basis for restoration, improved monitoring requirements, and the critical role of properly engineered low flow distribution structures.

Yansui Liu · · China

China's agricultural structure adjustment from 1997 to 2000 focused on comprehensive adjustments of quality, varieties, industrial, and regional structures. While distinctive agriculture increased by 3.1% during this period, the effects of the adjustment varied significantly due to regional comparative advantages. Notably, foodstuff crop seeding areas dropped by 3.97% and foodstuff yield by 6.47% nationally, with visible drops in 22 provinces, leading to a warning that loosening vigilance on food security necessarily leads to a significant drop in China's food security.

Rachel Slater · Development Southern Africa · South Africa

This study examined urban agriculture (UA) in Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on its contribution to low-income households. It found that UA's contribution to income generation and expenditure substitution is limited. However, UA is important to women in low-income households in ways less directly related to monetary gain, being used for empowerment, establishing social networks, symbolizing a sense of security, and encouraging community development.